This invention relates to a method of manufacturing an electrical connector of the type having two parallel rows of terminals in the connector housing.
It is widespread practice in many branches of the electrical industry to disengageably connect groups or bundles of wires to each other by providing multi-contact electrical connectors on the ends of the wires of the bundles. Each connector contains a plurality of contact terminals and each wire is connected to one of the terminals. The wires can thus be connected to each other by merely mating the two connectors with each other.
A variety of types of connectors, as regards the arrangement of the terminals in the connector and the means of connecting the wires to the terminals, are being used. The wires may be soldered to the terminals in the connector housing or electrical terminals can be crimped onto the ends of the wires and the terminals thereafter inserted into cavities in the connector housing. Connectors of these two types have long been used and more recently, a type of connector has been introduced which has therein terminals of a type having wire-receiving slots so that the wires can be connected to the terminals by merely moving the wires laterally of their axes and into the slots. The introduction of wire-in-slot type terminals has resulted in greatly improved methods of assembling multi-contact electrical connectors to wires and has resulted in the achievement of substantial economies in the industry. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,017 shows a machine which is capable of positioning wires in alignment with terminals in a connector and simultaneously inserting the wires into the terminals in the connector. In each operating cycle of this type of assembly machine then, a harness subassembly is produced consisting of a connector having wires extending from each of its terminals. Another benefit which as been realized from the introduction of wire-in-slot type terminals is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,859,724 which teaches a method of producing electrical harnesses by simply positioning the connectors as required on a harness board, lacing wires over the harness board in accordance with the wiring plan of the harness, and inserting the wires into the terminals in the connectors on the harness board. This manufacturing method has substantially shortened the amount of time required to produce a harness and has greatly reduced the amount of labor required in harness manufacturing operations.
The assembly machine disclosed on the above identified U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,017 and the harness manufacturing method taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,859,724 can be practiced only with single row electrical connectors, that is, electrical connectors in which all of the terminals are arranged in a single row in side-by-side relationship. While widespread use is made of single row electrical connectors, there is also a substantial need for two row electrical connectors, that is, connectors which have two rows of contact terminals therein, the rows being side-by-side and parallel to each other.
The present invention is directed to the achievement of an improved method of manufacturing two row electrical connectors which is compatible with the above identified U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,043,017 and 3,859,724.
In accordance with the method of the present invention, a pair of connector modules are positioned in side-by-side relationship, the modules having terminals therein which have wire-connecting portions. When the modules are in side-by-side relationship, the terminals in the modules are arranged as a single row. A plurality of wires are located in side-by-side relationship in a single plane with each wire in alignment with one of the terminals. The wires are thereafter moved laterally of their axes and to the wire-connecting portions of the terminals and connected to the terminals. The modules are then positioned against each other in aligned relationship with the terminals in the modules forming two parallel rows. Finally, the modules are secured to each other to form the two row connector assembly. In accordance with further embodiments, a cover is assembled to the modules. The cover serves as the housing and surrounds the modules completely and may be assembled to the modules prior to the step of positioning the modules against each other.
The wire-connecting portions of the terminals are advantageously in the form of wire-receiving slots of the commonly known type. However, the principles of the invention can be practiced with other types of wire-connecting portions. For example, the terminals may be crimped onto the wires after the wires are located in the terminals.